All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

All the Light We Cannot See

by Anthony Doerr

WINNER OF THE 2015 PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
WINNER OF THE CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR FICTION

A beautiful, stunningly ambitious novel about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II

Marie-Laure has been blind since the age of six. Her father builds a perfect miniature of their Paris neighbourhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. But when the Nazis invade, father and daughter flee with a dangerous secret.

Werner is a German orphan, destined to labour in the same mine that claimed his father's life, until he discovers a knack for engineering. His talent wins him a place at a brutal military academy, but his way out of obscurity is built on suffering.

At the same time, far away in a walled city by the sea, an old man discovers new worlds without ever setting foot outside his home. But all around him, impending danger closes in.

Doerr's combination of soaring imagination and meticulous observation is electric. As Europe is engulfed by war and lives collide unpredictably, 'All The Light We Cannot See' is a captivating and devastating elegy for innocence.

Reviewed by empressbrooke on

4 of 5 stars

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I wasn't sure if I could do another WWII book so soon after [b:The Nightingale|21853621|The Nightingale|Kristin Hannah|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1451446316s/21853621.jpg|41125521], but they really couldn't be more different. All The Light was strangely whimsical despite the subject matter. It doesn't perseverate on the claustrophobia of living in Nazi-occupied France, instead choosing to be more focused on the inner lives of the two main characters. The jacket summary for the book promises a story about how these characters' paths collide, and I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't a romance like I'd been expecting.

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  • Started reading
  • 28 January, 2016: Finished reading
  • 28 January, 2016: Reviewed